OCC Sends Letter On Dodd-Frank Preemption To Senator Carper

Article by Lynne B. Barr , Brooks R. Brown , Margaret B. Crockett , Thomas H. Hefferon , James W. McGarry , David L. Permut , Michael P. Whalen and Joseph F. Yenouskas

The OCC sent a letter to Senator Thomas R. Carper concerning its interpretation of the federal preemption standard in Title X of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The OCC was writing in response to a letter from Senators Carper and Mark Warner, the authors of Dodd-Frank's preemption standard, asking the OCC to articulate its interpretation of the standard.

Dodd-Frank provides that a "state consumer financial law" is preempted if, "in accordance with the legal standard for preemption provided by the U.S. Supreme Court in Barnett Bank of Marion County, N. A. v. Nelson, 517 U.S. 25 (1996)," the law "prevents or significantly interferes" with a national bank's execution of its powers.